Ron Paul on Egypt: U.S. Meddling Leads to Unintended Consequences

In his latest update for Campaign for Liberty, Ron Paul discusses recent events in Egypt, U.S. foreign policy, unintended consequences, and government spending.

Date: 01/31/2011

Transcript

Ron Paul: I’ve been asked several times over the weekend what I think our policy ought to be towards Egypt, with the ongoing crisis. My first reaction is that we should be doing a lot less a lot sooner. It’s just too bad that we’ve been so engaged, especially in the Middle East and around the world, and get ourselves into too many messes. But even though things look like they may be calming down a little bit, we’re very, very much involved. We’ve been involved for a long time, we’ve been propping up Mubarak here for over 30 years to the tune of $60 billion. And I really don’t think we get our money’s worth, because ultimately this comes back and there are unintended consequences.

It reminds me of what happened in Iran when we ousted one leader, Mosaddegh, in 1953 and then it took a good many years before the Islamic revolution occurred in 1979, but we lost out on that. And there’s an ongoing rebellion in Egypt right now, and nobody knows exactly who’s on whose side. It has been rumored that we may well be orchestrating the revolt and the disturbance. But I know one thing, our officials are working very diligently to be on the side of the winner. So regardless, they may have their support in both camps, both from those who are complaining about the government, as well as continuing to prop up their puppet, Mubarak.

So this, to me, means that we have to evaluate this very carefully. Because we would be better off if we weren’t engaged there. But if this continues, what the American people have to figure out is, should we just leave and be out of this and quit spending the money and spend that money at home? Or if we’re engaged then the question is, what kind of a revolution is this? Is this more like an overthrow of the Shah by the radical Muslims in 1979? Or is it more like us orchestrating a coup and throwing out Mosaddegh back in 1953? And quite frankly, I’m not sure anybody knows that answer.

And the other problem with intervention and support like this is that nobody knows the outcome. Sometimes they backfire on us and this is why it is so attractive to talk about our foreign policy where we just mind our own business and let other people decide their fights. I just think that the $60 billion was money down a rat hole and the people are poorer. There’s a high rate of unemployment. It’s somewhat similar to what’s going on in this country today. We spend trillions of dollars bailing out Wall Street and big banks and the special interests. And at the same time unemployment rates stay high and the people lose their houses and lose their mortgages.

So this is the problem when governments want to run things – whether it’s the economy or foreign policy – the people suffer, the special interest benefits and the political power players seem to be in on all the gravy. So it’s time for us, especially the American people and our Congress, to wake up and say, “Enough is enough. We just don’t have to be involved in every squabble around the world. Besides, we don’t have the money.” The sooner we come that that realization, the better.

212 Comments:

I love you Ron, it's a shame you'll never be president and putting up with all this bullshit we call American politics is taking years off your valuable life. Hope someone out there is listening because this man will not be able to do too much on his own, but an educated public can do anything

I would ask, what difference to me what happens in Egypt? This is yet another distraction to busy the media (with their complicity) and keep American's minds OFF what they SHOULD be doing: Namely, WE should FOLLOW EGYPT'S EXAMPLE! Where are the angry mobs throwing Moltoff Cocktails at the FED, demanding IT be "ousted?" Wake the FRICK UP America! Superbowl Sunday! Yay! I am an American idiot! Go Packers! YAY! Dumb asses. You're being played like fools. You deserve what you get.

Our gubmint's pathetic excuse for foreign meddling is always "to instill democracy" (mob rule) and "to protect human rights." If we're so concerned with those things, why aren't we carpet-bombing those little tribes in the Amazon with dictatorships (Cheifs), or those in Africa that practice clittoral mutilation on their little girls? Where are the invading armies and military bases for THOSE paces? Oh yeah, no oil or money for the Zionists to grab in those places. Duh.

"We can't afford to be the world's police force anymore. " It's not that we can't afford it...we never were the police force of the world. We have been the bully on the block since WW2. Sad too because we had the moral high ground after the Marshall plan.

I have a very sharp elderly neighbor next door. She has really never seen Ron Paul, but from everything she had heard or read, she thinks he is bad person. So strange but then again, she doesn't have the Internet. All she sees and reads is put out there by the lamestream media.

At the end of the day Egypt will have a government-guaranteed.
What kind of government is strictly up to Egyptians.
Once Egypt opens for business we should help rebuild and have fair trade with Egypt.
Egypt is a giant in the middle east don't lose its business.

Egypt is only only important to the U.S is for the sake of Israel.
1967? Does that ring a bell? Yup that's why the U.S cares so that wont happen again to Israel and keep the Muslims away.
But it will never last. Israel will keep pulling the U.S into this bs until the U.S will collapse

They will get it from the world bankers and the very protesters who are now demanding change will have to pay it off. So how is it going to be better for the ordinary Egyptian people? This riots will only tighten the grip of the big world money lenders over the Egyptian people. Some interesting observation: I haven't seen one single protester looking malnourished on the video footages like those from the central parts﻿ of Africa or some other parts of the world. Is it﻿ because life was so bad .

People are reacting to the manipulations of the world bankers. Protesters are under full sway﻿ of emotions and they﻿ could not be trusted for decisions they are making.More than a week of rioting and violence clearly foreshadows what the future of the Egyptian people will be like. Destruction and violence has never been a road to better future. Where will the new Egyptian government get money to cover all the losses caused by violence and destruction and who is going to pay it off?

The sole reason why Hamas is listed as one of an infinite number of terrorist groups is because the israel lobby in the United States is very effective in getting its way in American politics. If Hamas bombed the USS Liberty like israel did, the US would've waged war on the Hamas and Palestine. But because infact israel bombed it, both the governments of the US and israel tried covering it up. israel's influence in Washington is colossal and certainly unrivaled.

The sole reason why Hamas is listed as one of an infinite number of terrorist groups is because the israel lobby in the United States is very effective in getting its way in American politics. If Hamas bombed the USS Liberty like israel did, the US would've waged war on the Hamas and Palestine. But because infact israel bombed it, both the governments of the US and israel tried covering it up. israel's influence in Washington is colossal and certainly unrivaled.

I'm so glad that we can get it straight from Ron Paul, I had no idea that we were supporting the leader that all these Egyptians are rebelling against, not like you will see that on the news anyway. It's no surprise that a lot of the world hates us for our actions, the real surprise is that we are still here.

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